Decree No. 18/2003/ND-CP dated February 20, 2003 of the Government prescribing the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Government’s Office

DECREE

PRESCRIBING THE FUNCTIONS, TASKS, POWERS AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE GOVERNMENT’S OFFICE

THE GOVERNMENT

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of December 25, 2001;

Pursuant to the August 5, 2002 Resolution No. 02/2002/QH11 of the XIth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the first session, prescribing the list of ministries and ministerial-level agencies of the Government;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 86/2002/ND-CP of November 5, 2002 prescribing the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of the ministries and ministerial-level agencies;
At the proposals of the Minister-Director of the Government’s Office and the Minister of the Interior,

DECREES:

Article 1.- Position and functions:

The Government’s Office is a ministerial-level agency, an assisting apparatus of the Government and the Prime Minister.

The Government’s Office functions to organize the general activities of the Government and the Prime Minister; advise the Prime Minister on the direction and administration of general activities of the State administrative apparatus; assist the Prime Minister in organizing the regulation and coordination of activities of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government as well as the People’s Councils and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities for the implementation of the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s working programs and plans; work out, manage and strictly observe the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s Working Regulations as well as working programs and plans; and ensure the material and technical conditions for the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s activities.

Article 2.- Tasks and powers:

The Government’s Office shall have the responsibility to perform its tasks and exercise its powers, which have been prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 86/2002/ND-CP of November 5, 2002 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structures of the ministries and ministerial-level agencies, and the following specific tasks:

1. To work out and manage the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s working programs and plans as well as Working Regulations; monitor, urge and inspect the implementation of such programs, plans and Working Regulations by the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities.

2. To advise the Prime Minister on the selection of issues regarding important undertakings, policies, law, managerial mechanisms in order to assign them to the concerned ministries and agencies for study and submission to the Government or the Prime Minister; receive, verify (the legality, the conformity with regulations, and the compatibility with mechanisms and policies) and submit to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision according to his/her competence reports on regular affairs submitted by the ministries, branches and localities.

3. To assist the Prime Minister in performing the tasks of regulating and coordinating the working programs and plans of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities in the course of implementation of the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s working programs and plans. To promulgate documents announcing the Prime Minister’s directing opinions on the works falling within the scope of his/her responsibilities.

4. To organize and serve the Government’s meetings and working meetings between the Prime Minister, deputy Prime Ministers and the Government’s agencies, socio-political organizations, local administrations, including the preparation of contents, time-table and material conditions, dossier management, minutes recording, and editing resolutions, directives and/or conclusions of the Prime Minister and/or deputy Prime Ministers.

5. To organize the study and elaboration of schemes and projects assigned by the Prime Minister, then submit them to the Government or the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.

6. To assist the Government and the Prime Minister in urging the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities to prepare the assigned schemes and projects and draft enclosed legal documents. To verify (process and administrative procedure dossiers; the legality, conformity with the Party’s and State’s undertakings and policies and compatibility with the Prime Minister’s direction), analyze, synthesize, give independent assessment of the schemes’ and projects’ contents, and make final adjustments of the draft legal documents enclosed with schemes and projects for submission to the Government and/or the Prime Minister for decision.

7. To exercise the unified management over the promulgation of the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s documents, which are submitted to the Government and/or the Prime Minister by the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities.

8. To organize the announcement and popularization of the Government’s resolutions and decrees as well as the Prime Minister’s decisions; monitor and inspect the implementation of resolutions, decrees and decisions as well as the observance of administrative disciplines by the ministries, branches and localities in order to report thereon and propose to the Prime Minister necessary measures to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the Government’s resolutions and decrees as well as the Prime Minister’s decisions.

9. Under the Prime Minister’s authorization, the Minister-Director of the Government’s Office shall preside over working meetings with the ministers, the heads of ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities as well as other relevant agencies and organizations in order to reach agreement on the settlement of inter-branch issues and issues on which functional agencies still hold divergent opinions, then submit them to the Prime Minister for decision.

10. To submit to the Government or the Prime Minister for promulgation, or promulgate according to its competence the regulations on administrative procedures for handling affairs and managing official dispatches and papers in the State administrative agencies.

To provide professional guidance on clerical work to the offices of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government as well as the People’s Councils and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities.

11. To organize the provision of information on administration in service of the Government’s or the Prime Minister’s direction; manage and maintain the continuous operation of the Government’s wide-ranging informatics network.

To periodically inform the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities as well as the Party’s and State’s agencies of the general socio-economic situation of the country; the State management activities of the Government as well as the directing and administering activities of the Prime Minister and deputy Prime Ministers; inform the press of the principal activities and important decisions of the Government and the Prime Minister as well as the prominent economic-political-social events and matters of public concern.

12. To assist the Prime Minister in implementing the Regulations on work coordination between the Government and the Party’s as well as the National Assembly’s agencies, the Presidium of Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, the central agencies of mass organizations, the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Supreme People’s Court.

13. To manage, publish and distribute the Official Gazette of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; and manage the Government’s website on the Internet.

14. To ensure the material and technical conditions for the Government’s and the Prime Minister’s activities as well as the Prime Minister’s organizations providing consultancy and inter-branch coordination direction, which are located at the Government’s Office. To manage the assigned organizational apparatus, staff payroll, budget, property, projects and scientific research according to the State’s regulations.

15. To manage the working domains and perform other tasks assigned by the Government or the Prime Minister.

Article 3.- Organizational structure of the Government’s Office:

a/ Departments and units performing the Government Office’s functions:

1. The General Affairs Department.

2. The Legal Department.

3. The General Economics Department.

4. The Department for Industry.

5. The Department for Agriculture.

6. The Oil and Gas Department.

7. The Department for Monitoring Enterprise Renovation and Development (called the Department for Enterprise Renovation for short).

8. The Department for International Relations (including the Board for Management of the Government Office’s Projects).

9. The Internal Affairs Department.

10. The Department for Monitoring Corruption, Smuggling and Trade Fraud Combat (called Department I for short).

11. The Department for Handling Complaints and Denunciations (called Department II for short).

12. The Department for Work Coordination between the Government and the National Assembly’s agencies, the People’s Councils, the Fatherland Front Central Committee and the central bodies of mass organizations (called Department III for short).

13. The Department for Monitoring Working Domains in the South (called Department IV for short).

14. The Department for Localities.

15. The Department for Science and Education.

16. The Department for Culture and Social Affairs.

17. The Department for Administrative Reforms.

18. The Department for Organization and Personnel.

19. The Administrative Department (including the Clerical Section, the Typists’ Section and the Archival Section).

20. The Administration-Finance Department (including the Grade I- and Grade II-Finance Sections, the Administration Section, the Protocol Section, the Section for Management of the Government’s Working Offices, the Security Section, the Health Section, the Drivers’ Team, and non-business units with revenues: the Guest House at 37 Hung Vuong street, the International Conference Center, and La Thanh Hotel).

21. The Administrative-Administration Department II (in Ho Chi Minh City, including the Administrative-Organization Section, the Administration Section, the Finance Section, the Security Section, the Drivers’ Team, and non-business units with revenues: Tao Dan Guest House and Thong Nhat Hall).

b/ Non-business organizations under the Government’s Office:

1. The Press Information Center.

2. The Informatics Center.

Article 4.- Implementation provisions:

This Decree takes implementation effect 15 days after its publication on the Official Gazette and replaces the Government’s Decree No. 50/ND-CP if August 6, 1993 on the functions and tasks of the Government’s Office; the other provisions contrary to this Decree are all hereby annulled.

The Minister-Director of the Government’s Office shall define the functions and tasks of the units under the Government’s Office (according to the provisions of Article 3 above) and the Working Regulation of the Government’s Office.

Article 5.- The Minister-Director of the Government’s Office, the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government, and the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decree.